Health Insurance and the HRA
Many big companies are looking for ways to cut back on rising health insurance costs. With the costs rising so rapidly they are constantly looking for new ways to reduce cost to the company while still providing employees with the health insurance benefits they need for themselves and for their families.
There are numerous ways for businesses to lower insurance costs, one of the newer more popular ways is by providing HRAs to their workers. HRA is an acronym for health risk assessment, and it is an employee permitting their employer to inquire as to their present health conditions and in turn, the employer makes the employee aware of how to become healthier.
Depending on the company, HRAs can be performed differently. One way would be to ask the employee to fill out a questionnaire about their current health. Another way is to record an employees height, weight and BMI, as well ask obtaining blood test results. Both ways will end up with the company giving the employee information on how to become healthier.
You may be wondering what the benefit to HRAs is. The company most likely will offer incentives, on your paycheck, to getting checked out and to get healthier. This would be in the form of additions or deductions, on your paycheck, towards health care costs. This is considered to be great motivation towards taking healthier steps in regard to your health care.
HRA screenings can serve a great purpose to the big companies and the employees working for them. Working together to keep health insurance costs down is a worthwhile project and who knows maybe you an learn a little bit more about getting healthier and staying healthy. Now that really benefits everyone.